Massive Immortality Degradation Syndrome (MIDS)
Massive Immortality Degradation Syndrome, or MIDS, is the term used for a array of abnormal psychological symptoms and disorders that, together, can lead to a fast and serious deterioration in an immortal's mental stability. MIDS is not curable beyond its infantile stages, and treatment is not universally effective. MIDS is very rarely caught early enough for successful treatment due to its tendency to be misdiagnosed or largely asymptomatic until being triggered. MIDS associated with a wide range of harmful and violent behaviors, either to the self or to others, and an inability to function in everyday life. All immortals will eventually develop the disease. The time and nature of onset varies highly. Strong platonic, romantic, and familial bonds have been effective in delaying the onset of the disease, but do not stall or prevent its progression. MIDS is a mental disorder that is theorized to occur as immortals age. As immortals age, they are subject to more and more potentially traumatizing events, witness more death, and experience more loss and emotional damage. This leads to a variety of symptoms that, when compounded, characterize MIDS. MIDS leads to increasingly destructive behavior and depression and eventually progresses into the development of extreme and unmanageable mental and personality disorders that develop as a coping method. It also becomes increasingly difficult for immortals to focus, recall information, or form emotional attachments. It is often referred to as "Nostalgia Sickness", the "Time Bug", and "The Immortal's Death". While the disease cannot cause death, its increasingly dangerous range of effects means that the only way to subdue an affected subject is to induce a coma that it cannot be awoken from. So far, all attempts to rouse a patient have proven successful, but have only restored a safe mental state for 30 minutes - 5 hours. After this period of time, a coma must again be induced. All affected immortals are housed in a custom-build dimension and placed under heavy security. The stages of the disease are as follows: The main theory behind MIDS' existence is that over time, as more and more experiences become normalized for immortals, and as they become increasingly jaded and desensitized, they slowly become incapable of expressing emotions, both healthy and unhealthy, and gradually lose the ability to react to most chemical signals. This distress crumbles into a variety of disorders that, since they cannot be treated in the long term, become destructive. However, other ideas suggest that MIDs is the price of immortality, which is in line with teaching found in the Primordial Books, or that the disease occurs though extranormal means. Some believe that the disease is a bioweapon created by humans and pumped into the sustenance supplies of different immortals. Most of these theories are widely considered completely implausible or totally impossible and are widely regarded as the works of conspiracy theorists and paranoid warmongers. No immortal has been successfully cured by their coma - or, if sleep can be a cure, nobody has slept long enough for it to be effective in curing MIDS. Some awakened immortals seem to have improved upon rousing, but this improvement is not permanent. When examined, all comatose immortals have vital signs that, for their species/gender/etc. would be considered dangerously low, but the patients exhibit no usual detrimental effects of their vitals. Additionally, despite being technically comatose, all patients' brainwaves suggest deep REM sleep. Once an Apex or Anchor is diagnosed with MIDS, they are considered incapable of ruling and must be removed as soon as possible. Category:Immortals God